We Playtest Games

We Playtest Games

@weplaytestgames.bsky.social

We play indie games and help them find the fun. Sign up here for a free playtest: https://app.weplaytestgames.com/register/company

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We Playtest Games
@weplaytestgames.bsky.social

Do you stream indie games on Twitch? Want to get paid for it? You set your own price, what games you accept, and how you play them. Game studios then pay to have streamers like you play their game. If that sounds interesting, you can sign up here: weplaytestgames.com/streamers

weplaytestgames.comGet Paid to Stream Indie Games on Twitch | We Stream GamesDo you stream indie games on Twitch? Get paid for it. Set your own price, choose which games you accept, and play them your way — game studios pay to have streamers like you play their game.

We Playtest Games reposted

MoonlitEnigma🌃
@moonlitenigma.bsky.social

I agree on all of these points raised by other playtesters, (especially point #1 & #2). It's very crucial for players to understand what the purpose of the game is & that game breaking bugs don't hinder the experience when playing for the first time. Take notes devs✍️

We Playtest Games@weplaytestgames.bsky.social

We've playtested over 400 indie games, almost all of them had bugs and issues. We ran some analysis and today we're revealing the top mistakes these games made and how you can avoid them.

We Playtest Games reposted

Walk The Frog
@walkthefrog.bsky.social

It's a good checklist. During Walk The Frogs development we were able to check most of the items at least once and hopefully when we are done we'll have resolved them all haha

We Playtest Games@weplaytestgames.bsky.social

We've playtested over 400 indie games, almost all of them had bugs and issues. We ran some analysis and today we're revealing the top mistakes these games made and how you can avoid them.

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We Playtest Games
@weplaytestgames.bsky.social

#9 - Settings/Options missing Many games completely lacked an options menu or it wasn't accessible in game. Make sure the settings actually work too, multiple games had issues saving settings or where changing them did nothing.

We Playtest Games
@weplaytestgames.bsky.social

#10 - Camera Issues Around 10% of games had issues where the camera fights the player, looks at the ceiling or doesn't focus on the right thing. Make sure it's not too zoomed in so the player can experience the breadth of your world.

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We Playtest Games
@weplaytestgames.bsky.social

#7 - Difficulty Imbalance Many games started trivially easy followed by a brutal spike in difficulty after the tutorials. Guide players into the game without throwing everything at them from the outset. Lastly make sure it doesn't seem like enemies are "cheating".

We Playtest Games
@weplaytestgames.bsky.social

#8 - Players getting lost So many games needed a map and didn't provide it. Waypoints are very useful, and make sure the game clearly explains what the player needs to do next so they don't end up wandering in circles.

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We Playtest Games
@weplaytestgames.bsky.social

#5 - Missing feedback for player actions It's important that every action the player takes has some sound and visual feedback so they know they're doing the right thing. Things like collecting items, taking damage, enemies reacting to damage are often forgotten.

We Playtest Games
@weplaytestgames.bsky.social

#6 - Unintuitive or broken controls Around 20% of the games had an awkward control scheme, using the wrong buttons for attack, reload, sprint etc. Stick to what the biggest games do to not frustrate the player, or allow button rebinding.

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We Playtest Games
@weplaytestgames.bsky.social

#4 - Audio Issues 21% of games had issues with the default volume being too loud, no audio at all, or missing sound effects. A few games had bugs with audio when alt tabbing or restarting a play-through so make sure you test for that.

We Playtest Games
@weplaytestgames.bsky.social

#1 - Poor Onboarding An astounding 68% of games had some issues with the tutorial, didn't fully explain the game, or onboarding was missing entirely. The best introductions are light on text, heavy on showing. Also make sure the core mechanics of your game are explained early.

We Playtest Games
@weplaytestgames.bsky.social

#2 - Game-breaking bugs In 39% of playtests we found bugs that were so large they either crashed the game, froze the controls, or soft-locked the player so they couldn't progress. The most frustrating were around saving the game, where it often completely failed.